Sorting out the place your ancestor came from when spelling is way off.. (germanic, father)

[Sally_Sparrow]

Hope that the Genealogy forum will be the best place for this... if not, not sure?

Okay so, this one has puzzled me for a long time. My maternal GG Grandfather supposedly was born in "Uttehborn", Germany. Okay, whatever. I never questioned this, but one day decided to figure out exactly where it is, and it doesn't seem to exist. I've looked all over and consulted others and can't figure this one out.

It has to be a misspelling I guess? He came over around the 1870's and the info I have about his origins is just what has been passed down through family. I don't have any sort of official documentation so who knows how to figure out where exactly in Germany he came from?

[BuffaloTransplant]

Originally Posted by sabride

Hope that the Genealogy forum will be the best place for this... if not, not sure?

Okay so, this one has puzzled me for a long time. My maternal GG Grandfather supposedly was born in "Uttehborn", Germany. Okay, whatever. I never questioned this, but one day decided to figure out exactly where it is, and it doesn't seem to exist. I've looked all over and consulted others and can't figure this one out.

It has to be a misspelling I guess? He came over around the 1870's and the info I have about his origins is just what has been passed down through family. I don't have any sort of official documentation so who knows how to figure out where exactly in Germany he came from?

Your problems is the different pronunciation, the High and Low Germanic spelling and the vernacular. What was written is not necessarily the way it was pronounced.

What time frame are you looking? I have better luck with my pre 1850 immigrant ancestors than my husband does with one who was an immigrant in 1880s -- the more immigrants there were, the worse the corruption of names.

[bjh]

Check the spelling. If the source(s) are handwritten, especially in fraktur script, they can be difficult to read.